Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I was sitting here last night, trying to come up with something to blog about. The kids hadn't destroyed anything and I hadn't had any interesting adventures so I was at a loss. I started going through some old pictures, thinking maybe I could scan some pics to share.

I've always liked taking pictures. Even back when I was a kid with a snazzy new 110 camera, I enjoyed taking pictures on vacation. I guess it's in the blood. My dad has always been the crazy tourist-guy with a camera around his neck; toting a camera bag with 420 lenses and filters, and a tripod. I must have learned from him.

So here are a few early attempts at picture-taking, while on vacation, by yours truly...

This is a picture of Haleakala Crater in Hawaii. It's beautiful. It's a volcano that's cool and no longer active. My parents made us get up before the sun so we could drive to the top and watch the sunrise.

Here's a picture of Haleakala Crater at sunrise. Gorgeous, no?

And here's a more typical example of the kind of pictures I took back then. The backs of my mom's and my sister's heads. Nice.

This is a picture of a parade on Oahu for Kamehameha Day. The thing I like best about this picture is the apparent drunkeness of the guy who painted the white line on the road.

OK, here we have a picture of the Grand Canyon. Beautiful! Not a bad picture.

And here I am back to taking pictures of the backs of heads. Dawn, Dawn, Dawn...

I guess it could be worse. I could be the dork with the tripod, taking pictures of his wife just sitting there. Hey, wait a minute....that guy looks just like....DAD! Put the tripod away already!

Or this guy who climbed a stone wall to take a picture of a weed. Wait a minute....Is that....DAD! Get down from there! We're waiting for you!

My dad was always coming up with these great ideas for pictures. "Hey girls, hang off the side of these rocks like you're climbing up a mountain and I'll take a picture of you." (You should see all the pictures my parents have of me and my sister in a tree!)

"Hey Dawn, sit on the edge of this wall. What? You're scared? I know there's a 500,000 foot drop. Just don't fall. You'll be fine. Now smile."

Meanwhile, I was taking pictures of a cactus that looked like Ernie.

and cacti that looked like they had mustaches...

Now here's a picture of the lovely Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Canada. I took a canoe trip there when I was in highschool. I was insane back then.

so peaceful...

"Oh no, we don't need to be rescued. Thank you anyway. No really, we purposely ran our canoe into the rocks. We just wanted a closer view of a um, a DUCK! Yeah, that's it! We saw a duck over here in the trees, so we thought we'd just paddle over and check it out. What? No, we weren't screaming, silly. No, we were um, just squealing because we were so happy. You know, to see the duck."

This is what we ate on this trip. Dehydrated junk cooked up with lake water. Mmmm.

This is some more lovely mudgruel food.

And the best part - this was our bathroom when we camped on the Minnesota side. Nope, you aren't missing the walls. There are none. That's right, it's just a box in the middle of the woods. This was luxurious compared to the Canadian side. Let's just say - you needed a shovel to go there.

And you wonder why I hate camping now.

This concludes our slide show for tonight. Tune in next time for pictures of my room, misc. stuffed animals, and blurry people, taken when I was 10.

46 comments:

I haven't been here in a while since I usually read your posts on my phone. Love how cute your blog is.

Loved the pictures. Thanks for the laugh. We have lots of pictures of my grandfather taking a picture of my father taking a picture of my grandfather. I have no idea why my grandpa thought that was funny, but he did.

I've been to the top of that volcano. I never made it to see the sunrise though. The clouds came rushing in fast and I started to feel like I was going to throw up. I watched the sunrise through the rearview mirror of our rented Neon. What a bummer.

ummmmm-I feel I must point this out. The picture with the guy and the drunken road lines. Take a look at the guy on the bike. Ummmm-is he neked....or almost...I notice a backpack but not much else. Zooming in doesn't help. And I've made many a meal that looks like that pot of gruel-nothin' at all wrong with that.Bev

Dawn, thanks for sharing! I loved my Kodak 110 camera too. I really enjoy going through old vacation photos. My dad was into photography too, I rarely leave home without a camera (check out my 365 days of photo blog (http://makproject365.blogspot.com, I'm only on day 9, and life has not been too interesting). We camped a lot when I was young too, but luckily in New England, NY and PA where we camped most we never ran into one of THOSE toilets or stayed anywhere we needed a shovel! That would have been a deal breaker for me. I do have fond memories of those days!

Brian, my husband, has pictures of the "sh**" can he used while doing research in Anarctica. "There's nothing like taking a crap on the ice". It was a garbage can w/ plastic bag and a seat. No walls either. What fun!

Some of the pictures (the Grand Canyon, the Boundary Waters) are just beautiful! You have a real talent for spotting an artistic picture. I've always wanted to be able to take artisic photos but alas it's not in my nature. I could barely tell one end of a camera from the other until we got a digital and I could see what the finished picture would look like.

Ohhhh lady I hear ya about the camping business. I have it in my contract so my future husband is prepared. It reads something like "I do not gut, I do not bait, I do not cook on campfires and if I wake up with a rock in my backside it is NOT to be considered a vacation".

As always, I relate SO well to your posts. Thank you. I am smiling thinking of MY old 110 camera that I found when I cleaned out my parents house to sell. Good times...good times! Hey at least someone TOOK a photo of you - there are few of me from those days.

Oh that cracks me up. I was looking at the first couple pictures thinking they weren't bad! LOVE the weed one.

Ohhhh and ummm I went to high school in Minnesota. And skipped out on the trip to the BWCA. I hope yours was at least shorter than our two week one. I'm more and more glad that I skipped it as time goes one. Just sayin'

So... the picture with your dad and the tripod - that's my home town, Sedona. And the photo is in the fountain at Tlaquepaque... where I actually had my engagement photos done. It makes me so happy to know that my memories are also in someone else's! Kooky, but cool!

At least your pictures are of things that are somewhat interesting. I am from Hawaii, and you would not believe the things I have seen people video/take pictures of. I have seen more people than I can count film themselves pumping gas in Hawaii. And those were adults.

This is a desperate plea for anyone out there who can help a grieving Mother and two sisters find at least 2 Brighton bracelets called "Twinkling Hearts" #J36141. We found 1 in Virginia the day before my daughters viewing and the lady was sure we could find more when we got back to Florida. Alas, there are none in this area and it is out of production. If you could go on the Brighton.com site and check out your area stores that carry this jewelry it would sure help us and we would pray for the Lord to bless you greatly. I would like one for myself and one for each of her 2 little girls also, but I especially want my 2 girls to have one like their sister now wears for eternity. If you find any, please leave me a e-mail, with bracelet as the subject, with the stores phone number. Please ask them to hold it for Sue D. Thanks randsdiff@embarqmail.com

Well, I have to tell ya, we own a piece of property up north that is rustic. Once upon a time, we had a toilet - 2 seater yet- like that. Just a box on the ground, over a hole. Oh, well, we did have a wall. A piece of plywood leaning against a nearby tree, between the toilet and the campsite. Does that count?

Oh, too funny, I've been on a week long canoe trip in the boundary waters too. I've got a picture of the "outdoor toliet" too. Did you have the fisher price 110 camera? The blue one with black rubber on the ends? Such good memories of horrible pictures taken by a 10 year old. Poor kids today just have digital cameras.

I loved this post. I, too, had to have the latest camera Kodak was making as I grew up, and took lots of goofy pictures.

So cool to know you've been on a canoe trip in the BWCA. After high school, I went to live in Ely, MN and learned how to fly because I wanted to be a bush pilot. That's where I met my hubby. Been canoeing in the BWCA a few times. Love those outhouses with no walls! Did you encounter any bears? We had a bear steal all our food once.

Ok, SSO question - Dawn, did you ever have a Kodak Disc Camera? It was supposed to be the new and exciting camera of the late 70's early 80's with a round disk of film... I had one and now can't find someone to make copies of the pics.

Ok - you look just like Jackson hanging off the edge of the rock. No doubt who his momma is!

I read a study about children of the digital age. Some psychologists theorize that they have an inflated sense of self-image because all the "bad" pictures are deleted and they don't end up with the class pictures with the goofy grins or one eye closed. Do you keep all the digital pics of your kids or do you delete the "bad" ones?? The study said that the children of the 70's (our age) have a more realistic sense of self image because we know we can look goofy sometimes and we've grown from that. Whaddya think?

ONE last thing - I bought something last year to use to go potty while camping/on an airplane, etc. It eliminates using "thrones" like that for #1 (Sorry, still gotta use it for #2!) It's called a WHIZ. It's from Australia and you've gotta watch the commercials to truly appreciate it. Watch them at www.whizbiz.com.au. Be sure *you've* whizzed first - you may laugh so much you'll, well, you know!

Now, since seeing the above pictures, I'm not buying the "...I don't know anything about photography..." line! You have a basic understanding of composition. It looks like Osmosis from your Dad or at least a natural "eye." With a little tweaking & guidance, your photos would be less of "Mom Shots" and more photographs.

BTW, Your Dad is a man after my own heart! I'm usually the dork who is on top of walls photographing stuff. Hey, to get the shot, sometimes you have to get dirty. :) Is your Dad still into photography?

PS: You should also post stuff to your Flickr page, so we can comment better on the photos. (Yeah, like you don't have enough time as it is...) But it's free and you can use your Yahoo ID.

um, Dawn, nice hair. The picture on the rocks...is it just me, or does that kinda look like you, but mostly look like Austin (if he had a poofy bowl cut)?

Thanks for the devotional yesterday. It was good for me to read that. I like to combine things I have to be doing with things I want to do...like folding laundry during Jon and Kate or ironing while listening to a movie or book on tape I'll never find time to sit and read... But the messes made by my 2 year old are completely defeating. and mine isn't nearly as brave or creative as yours is. I could never do what you do. I hope you figure out how to work things in to a schedule better and keep up the good work!

Hahahaha, Dawn! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!! I am the same--or nearly--age as you and the pictures I took back then are just the same! Too funny!!

I also have been to the BWCA and done the canoe thing. Twice actually. Once in 10th grade with my Youth Group, and once as an adult (before kids, that is). Did you do much portaging? (Did I spell that right??) During the 10th grade trip, we did what seemed like a LOT of it and--geniuses that we were--we coined a phrase for carrying the canoe. "Get It Up and Toss It Off!" GUITIO for short. Yep, a bunch of Christian kids were "getting it up and tossing it off" in the woods for 5 days. Nice.

Ok, am I the only one that thinks the pic of you peeking over the boulder looks just like Austin?? Really-a spittin' image of Austin! It's a sad thing when a mom looks just like her son in her younger years. I can say this because I have pictures of me in a cowboy outfit, 6-shooter on my hip, riding my rocking horse and my son asked me if it was a picture of him or his brother because he can't remember owning a rocking horse when he was little. YA- he was 3 at the time. Gotta love that. Oh and he was not to pleased when I told him it was me on the horse. "Yuck, you mean, me and Tanner look like a girl?!" Boys! Whatta ya gonna do with 'em?